Altes Lager
THE ABANDONED MILITARY SITE IN GERMANY
This site was called ‘Lager 1’, but today the name ‘Altes Lager’ is more common for the military site close to Jüterbog. It was built by the Prussian army and eventually by the Soviets until 19924.
In 1870 the Prussian army bought this land in Niedergörsdorf to built barracks. About 9 thousand French prisoners of war from the Franco-Prussian War were used for forced labor to expand the shooting range. Like the close-by barracks ‘Jüterbog 2‘, the ‘Altes Lager’ belonged to the military estate district ‘Jüterbog shooting range’.
From 1916 until the end of the First World War there was a military airfield in Altes Lager. The airfield was rebuilt in 1935 and was used by the German Luftwaffe until the end of the Second World War. The air field was also used by military school for pilots and engineers.
1946
After the war, during the Cold War, the military places were taken by the Soviet army. In 1946 the town became an official village, situated in the middle of a huge military site of the Soviet army. During 1994 the buildings were abandoned when the Soviets left Germany after the end of the German division. In 1997 the community was incorporated into Niedergörsdorf. Some buildings were rebuilt for housing, but many kept unused until today. I visited ‘Altes Lager’ in 2008.
